《自然一免疫学》：科学家发现T淋巴细胞重要功能基因

浙江大学医学院免疫学研究所教授鲁林荣带领的研究团队在T淋巴细胞中,发现并命名了一个名叫Tespal的新基因。并阐释了其作用机制,相关论文近日在线发表于国际期刊《自然一免疫学》（Nature Immunology）上。     

我学者发现T淋巴细胞重要功能基因

浙江大学医学院免疫学研究所教授鲁林荣带领的研究团队在T淋巴细胞中,发现并命名了一个名叫Tespal的新基因,并阐释了其作用机制,相关论文近日在线发表于国际期刊《自然-免疫学》上。     

p53基因及其蛋白的结构和功能研究新进展

ｐ５３蛋白来源于各种种系的动物,它们有共同的特征,划分为３个不同区域,具有５个高度保守的结构域,每一区域有不同的结构特征和功能,从而使ｐ５３发挥诸多的生物学作用     

基因传感器在环境微生物功能基因检测中的应用

分子生物学的快速发展和人们对核酸的深入研究, 给基因传感器的研制和发展奠定了坚实的基础。基因传感器是分子生物学与微电子学、电化学、光学等相结合的产物, 将在生命科学与信息科学之间架起一座桥梁, 成为DNA信息分析检测最有效的手段之一。在近年研究文献的基础上, 评述了基因传感器的工作原理、分类及近年来国内外利用其进行环境微生物功能基因检测等方面的研究现状, 并提出堆肥微生物功能基因检测将是基因传感器的一个重要发展方向。     

反向生物学

一、反向生物学--基因工程的最大冲击波。十几年之前,基因工程出现,生物的基因物质--DNA在化学物质上十分相似,因而基因的纯化,鉴定、结构与功能的研究,曾经为此长期处于困境。     

激光对机体免疫功能的影响

激光对机体免疫功能的影响黄瑜峰,黄卓正广西医科大学附属肿瘤医院５３００２１近十年多来激光技术在临床医学上的应用日益广泛,弱激光照射治疗某些疾病国内外均有许多成功的报道,但对其作用机理目前尚未十分清楚。为此,促使人们探讨弱激光治疗的作用机制进行了多方面...     

《自然一免疫学》：科学家发现激活免疫“自然杀手”关键分子

来自新加坡科技研究局属下的研究机构一一”新加坡免疫学信息网”（ Singapore Immunology Network ）科学家们领导的一个国际研究小组在新研究中发现了一类特殊的脂肪酸分子对激活一种独特早期应答免疫细胞起至关重要的作用。相关研究论文发布在《自然一免疫学》（Nature Immunology）杂志上。     

调控胚胎发育的基因

胚胎发育是一个沿时空顺序坐标在形态上剧烈变化,既复杂又充满神秘色彩的过程,对它的研究由来已久。孟德尔（Ｍｅｎｄｅｌ,１９００）和摩尔根（Ｍｏｒｇａｎ）的遗传研究,使生物学家们开始关注突变引起体形奇特性变化的重要性。Ｂｒｉｄｇｅｓ（１９１５）阐述了果蝇...     

The Crystal Structure of Cancer Osaka Thyroid Kinase Reveals an Unexpected Kinase Domain Fold

Macrophages are important cellular effectors in innate immune responses and play a major role in autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. Cancer Osaka thyroid (COT) kinase, also known as mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase 8 (MAP3K8) and tumor progression locus 2 (Tpl-2), is a serine-threonine (ST) kinase and is a key regulator in the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines in macrophages. Due to its pivotal role in immune biology, COT kinase has been identified as an attractive target for pharmaceutical research that is directed at the discovery of orally available, selective, and potent inhibitors for the treatment of autoimmune disorders and cancer. The production of monomeric, recombinant COT kinase has proven to be very difficult, and issues with solubility and stability of the enzyme have hampered the discovery and optimization of potent and selective inhibitors. We developed a protocol for the production of recombinant human COT kinase that yields pure and highly active enzyme in sufficient yields for biochemical and structural studies. The quality of the enzyme allowed us to establish a robust in vitro phosphorylation assay for the efficient biochemical characterization of COT kinase inhibitors and to determine the x-ray co-crystal structures of the COT kinase domain in complex with two ATP-binding site inhibitors. The structures presented in this study reveal two distinct ligand binding modes and a unique kinase domain architecture that has not been observed previously. The structurally versatile active site significantly impacts the design of potent, low molecular weight COT kinase inhibitors.     

Small Molecules Detected by Second-Harmonic Generation Modulate the Conformation of Monomeric α-Synuclein and Reduce Its Aggregation in Cells

Proteins are structurally dynamic molecules that perform specialized functions through unique conformational changes accessible in physiological environments. An ability to specifically and selectively control protein function via conformational modulation is an important goal for development of novel therapeutics and studies of protein mechanism in biological networks and disease. Here we applied a second-harmonic generation-based technique for studying protein conformation in solution and in real time to the intrinsically disordered, Parkinson disease related protein α-synuclein. From a fragment library, we identified small molecule modulators that bind to monomeric α-synuclein in vitro and significantly reduce α-synuclein aggregation in a neuronal cell culture model. Our results indicate that the conformation of α-synuclein is linked to the aggregation of protein in cells. They also provide support for a therapeutic strategy of targeting specific conformations of the protein to suppress or control its aggregation.     

Expressed sequence tags and their application for plant research

Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) are short, usually unedited sequences obtained by single-pass sequencing of cDNA clones from any cDNA library. Analyzing and comparing ESTs can provide information on gene expression, function and evolution. Large-scale EST sequencing has become an attractive alternative to plant genome sequencing. Currently, plant EST collections comprise over 3.8 million sequences from about 200 species. They have proved to be a valuable tool for gene discovery and plant metabolism analysis. Several plant-specific EST databases have been created which provide access to sequence data and bioinformatics-based tools for data mining. Searching EST collections allows pre-selection of genes for preparing cDNA arrays, targeted to bring maximum information on specialized processes, like stress response, symbiotic nitrogen fixation etc. Also, ESt-based molecular markers such as SNP, SSR, and indels are fast developing tools for breeders and researchers.     

光亲和标记技术在药物发现中的应用

功能蛋白质组学的研究在药物发现中扮演着重要的角色,而光亲和标记技术是研究功能蛋白质组学的主要策略之一,它主要有两个方面的应用：靶标蛋白的确定和活性小分子配体与靶标蛋白作用模式的揭示,这些信息为药物的发现提供了强有力的支持。